In this digital age, paper remains important, especially at WHHS
September 17, 2019
It was 7:25 am on August 19 as chaos erupted in the WHHS Library. Student printing had been turned off. Widespread confusion flooded the hallways. Did Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) not have enough funding for student printing? Was WHHS attempting to go paper-free in order to be more environmentally friendly? The answer is none of the above.
Over the summer, CPS updated software on the school’s laptops, and one of the changes was blocking student printing. However, our librarians and administration are working for our printing rights. Hopefully, we will soon have them returned.
With the printing fiasco came the resurgence of the debate about whether paper should leave the classroom. My answer: it should never leave the classroom.
While technological advancements have allowed for greater computer assistance in classrooms, they cannot replace the benefits of using paper and a writing utensil. “Writing notes on paper helps me remember more,” SENIOR Katie Sutkamp said. Sutkamp’s personal observation aligns with the results of research conducted by Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer of Princeton University and UCLA respectively: taking notes on paper has been scientifically proven to increase memory.
While laptops are meant to provide a more engaging educational environment, they have the tendency to do quite the opposite. In a study at Michigan State University that monitored students actions on laptops in class, it was found that laptops create a large distraction from learning, primarily due to the internet. Students were found to have spent large amounts of time browsing and not engaged in class.
However, is this really that surprising? How often do you find yourself checking social media or scrolling through texts when you are on your phone in class in order to do an activity? According to Nicholas Carr in his essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” we are captivated and absorbed by the unlimited information available in the internet, and as a result, we are loosing our patience and critical thinking abilities.
And sometimes, laptops can physically cause pain. SENIOR Lydia Graves explains that “my process of learning is hindered as I get headaches from looking at a computer too long.” Laptops cause distractions, loss of patience, loss of critical thinking abilities and even physical pain.
I grew up hearing “computers are the future” and with technological advancements today, no one can doubt that. Paper is being slowly phased out of the classroom. In my time at WHHS, I have transitioned from using a laptop once a week to once a day to now almost every hour I am at school.
However, the benefits of physically holding that sheet of paper, of writing down those notes, of flipping the page to the test are still not rivaled by looking at a computer screen and clicking buttons on a keyboard. Paper should be here to stay.
Information accurate as of Sept. 10. On Sept. 13, printing in the library was made available for student use again.
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